Fuller House Wants to Be More Than a Full House Nostalgia Trip

It's no secret that the reason Fuller House exists is to scratch a nostalgia itch for kids of the '90s. The pilot of the Netflix continuation of Full House will satisfy that craving in a big way with callbacks to all of your favorite characters and their catchphrases. In fact, it's pretty much wall-to-wall homage.

"I wanted to create an episode that was for the fans that was in essence almost the last episode of Full House that we never got to do," series creator Jeff Franklin at the Television Critics Association winter previews on Sunday. "[We wanted] to do something that was going to make the fans happy and was full of nostalgia."

And even though the original adults - Danny Tanner (Bob Saget), Uncle Jesse (John Stamos), Joey (Dave Coulier) and Aunt Becky (Lori Loughlin) - are peppered throughout the season to assist DJ (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin) and Kimmy (Andrea Barber) with raising the new generation of children, from Episode 2 onward, the show attempts to separate itself from its predecessor with the new story. "It's great to have the guys and Aunt Becky from the original show come through now and then because it's a family," Franklin said. "It's a big family and we want them there, but this is a show that's centered around [the girls]. You see as the episodes go along their visits become more sporadic and it's really about [the girls'] lives and their children."

The Fuller House writers consulted with their lead actresses - all of whom are now mothers themselves - about their lives and worked that into the grown-up versions of their characters. "We met with the writers and were able to share stories about our parenting and our lives and what's going on with us," Sweetin said. "They were wonderful about incorporating that into these characters. It was like stepping back into someone that was really familiar. There was some fun getting to fill in the blanks of what's been happening to these characters over the past 20 years."

It's taken almost three decades for Fuller House to come to be, but that doesn't mean the hunger hasn't been there. Executive producer Bob Boyett revealed that he and Franklin have been approached two to three times a year for a Full House follow-up, but it didn't make sense until Franklin pitched the concept for the Netflix series. "We thought it was very timely," Boyett said. "The right idea finally came along, thanks to Jeff, to do a show that was going to be of interest, that was going to be contemporary that we could move along with. We are not going to fall back on doing a '90s sitcom."

Of course, one aspect of the original show that everyone was hoping for was the return of the Olsentwins as Michelle Tanner. Franklin re-confirmed they would not appear in FullerHouse, but they haven't given up on the idea of seeing Michelle again. "We all tried to persuade them to come and play," he said. "They decided not to at this time. We are hopeful that at some point in the future that they may change their minds and come back and reprise Michelle. I'm sure we've all had family reunions where not everyone shows up. We still love them and the door is always open."